Adriaan de Jong

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About Adriaan de Jong

  • Rank
    Johnson Automatics Fan
  • Birthday 02/18/1960

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Germany
  • Interests
    Collecting Dutch Army Rifles: Hembrug, Beaumont and of course Johnson's M1941

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  1. I read somewhere in this forum, that quite a few shooters are using this LSA 0-158 lubricant. As it comes very cheap on this side of the pond(less than 5 USD for a quart, manufactured by a German company)), I thought to give it a try. But before I do, I would like to know how good this somewhat older stuff (still) is. Does the Johnson like it? What about rustprevention of the Metall parts? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Adriaan
  2. All the best to everyone for the year 2011! Stay healthy and may your collection's of Johnson Rifles prosper Adriaan
  3. Ryche, yes, that's a vickers. I cannot tell you which type it is. The KNIL army used the Vickers in several different lay outs: infantry, armoured cars, navy and two types in aircraft(one shooting straight ahead through the propellor and one for the observer on the plane). It looks to me that the one in the picture could be an aircraft MG, but I am not sure. Unfortunately I did not make a good picture of the "butt". If you want to start collecting KNIL used Machine Guns, here is your wishlist for Christmas: - Hotchkiss - Maxim - Madsen M23 - Lewis M1917 - BAR - Vickers M23 - Colt M1917A1 - Colt MG38B - Colt-Browning MG40 - Breda M30 - Johnson LMG - Brengun MK1 As you see, during 1940 to 1942 they bought everything they could lay their hands on. If you want to know more, there is a good book that covers all arms used by the KNIL(handguns, rifles MG's etc): "Nederlandse Vuurwapens KNIL en Militaire Luchtvaart 1897-1942" by Martens and De Vries. ISBN 90 6707 4012. It is available f.i. at the bookshop of the Dutch Gunmagazine "SAM": www.samwapenmagazine.nl You have to look under "boekenservice". Of course it also contains the Johnson story. Alas, the book is in dutch, but that's easy to learn.....even small kids in Holland can speak and read it, so it should be no problem for you.... greetings Adriaan
  4. Mitch, try here: www.kerisonline.nl or www.kris-keris.com good luck and take care the man with the scythe doesn't come searching for you..... Adriaan
  5. Here some more impressions of the Bronbeek collection: The big cannon lying on the floor is turkish made. It was taken at one of the battles for Atjeh. It's 5,4 meters long, weighs 5800 kg, caliber is 20 cm(about 8 inches). The one with the stone "bullet" was probably more for showing off. The walls of the cannon seem mighty thin to withstand the pressures generated by shooting a 60 cm(24 inch.....) projectile.
  6. Mitch, it's a small hand held scythe used to cut grass etc. Ryche, your right, a rifle like this belongs in a museum. Fortunately the Dutch invested lot's of money in their Museum's and preservation of their history in the last 2 decades or so, this get's especially clear when you look at the militairy one's. These were clearly not first in the line to get funds, that has changed very much, also with the help of some private sponsors. Now f.i. the Dutch army museum in delft(www.legermuseum.nl) and the "Oorlogsmuseum" in Overloon(www.oorlogsmuseum.nl/) are definitely worth a visit. The website of the Legermuseum contains a varible treasure of information on the army, and it's getting better all the time. They are also very helpfull with identifying Dutch arms and other research topics, don't hesitate to ask them if you have any questions in this area. Adriaan
  7. Ed, you're welcome! I guess the plate stayed in the collection of the Dutch royal family when Henk Visser got the rifle. How he managed to get it in the first place is unknown, him being a close personal friend of the late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands might have helped.... I am glad the two came together again, this rifle sure has a great historical value for the Dutch. Adriaan
  8. Last weekend I visited the Museum Bronbeek in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Bronbeek is a home for disabeld and retired soldiers, that was founded on February 19, 1863. The estate was a gift by King Willem III. Until 1961 Bronbeek was used only for former soldiers who served in the Dutch KNIL army, based in the Dutch East Indies. But, Bronbeek is still focused very much on the KNIL and the Dutch East Indies. More on Bronbeek can be found here: http://www.defensie....ronbeek/museum/ Unfortunately it's only in Dutch, but gives you a nice Impression of this home. The ex soldiers actually live in a Museum: part of the Building contains a very nice collection about the history of the Dutch East Indies, nowadays also with a quite critical view on what was done there especially after WW 2 finished and the Indonesians fought for their independence. I was very happy to find a pleasant surpise in the Museum: it now contains the Johnson M1941 Presentationrifle that Melvin Johnson gave to the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina. You will remember that this rifle was in the collection of Henk Visser, missing the Inscribed plate on the stock(see "The Book "). Last time I saw this rifle was a couple of years ago when it was hidden away in the depot of the Dutch army Museum. There the plate was missing, now it's back where it belongs. It was not easy to make pictures, as the rifle is secure behind glass. But let me tell you in reality it is presented very well. This is one beautifull M1941! On the picture of the KNIL soldiers leaving for Australia, you can see they both carry a Johnson rifle.
  9. The 5 pointed star. I have been asking myself for somewhat longer why the 5-pointed star was used as a proofmark by the Dutch inspectors of the M1941s. This because the Dutch did not use this mark on any military rifle since the 1880s. On the Dutch M95 Mannlicher/Hembrug rifles your will find a crown with a letter(referring to the inspectors name). This one lookes like the one on my rifle 548G in one of the attached pictures. Then I happened to take one of my Beaumont rifles, that is manufactured in Maastricht. What did I see: a fivepointed star on the action....This mark is unique for the Maastricht build Beaumonts. The ones made in Suhl(Germany) and Delft(Netherlands) do not have this mark. So, from that point one I started doing some research. Now please beware: I am not a historican, just a interested collector. I do have a lot of literature about Dutch rifles, gunsmiths, collections etc. So I might be on the right track, but do not take that for granted. This is what I found out: The 5 pointed star as a trade/proofmark can be traced back to a document dating from the year 1283(!). This star was the official proofmark for weight, silver coins etc., and also functioned as a quality proof for products made in Maastricht(which can be found in the southern province of Limburg in the Netherlands). Its oldest finding is in a church in Maastricht, where it can be found in a scupture dated back to 1490. The oldest known picture that contains the star is from a Maastricht painter called Jan van Brussel which dates back to the year 1499. The star became part of the Maastricht citys coat of arms officially on September 15, 1819. At the same time a flag was introduced that was red with a silver 5 pointed star on it.(see attachments). In the 1930s the Maastricht star was critized, it looked to much like the communists star. It was removed from the coat of arms, the flag was changed to plain white/red without it. It took several attempts and it was not before 1993 before the city of Maastricht decided to get back to its historical roots, the flag was changed to the old model and the coat of arms contained the star once again. At the end of this post, I will include some websites where you can find some more information. What I cannot tell you is why of all things this centuries old mark was used once again (after about 60 years not being used on military arms) on the Johnson M1941, especially if you remember that this star definitely was a proofmark clearly restricted to products made in the town of Masstricht. It must have been made especially for this purpose, the inspectors in the Dutch Indies also used the crown with a letter. So you have room for speculations....... And: history sometimes takes strange ways. Remember that the Dutch ran the Dutch Indies to gain maximum profit from their colony. That did not go without suppression of the native people in what now is Indonesia. The so called "police actions" of the Dutch after the war ended to get control over the independence movement were so extreme, that the Dutch were stopped by the United Nations in the 1950s. It is quite a coincidence(or not, I leave that to your fantasy) that the Indonesians put one symbol prominently into their new coat of arms after they got their independence from the not very popular Dutch: a five pointed star.........Take a look at it and at the Maastricht mark, and you will see they are more then a little bit the same.....I wonder if they realized where it has its origin. The Dagger proofmark on the Johnson Barrel: now, this one is a little harder. The dagger mark can be found in a similar shape on several historical firearms, and also goes back several 100 years. You will find it(see attachments) on a firearms made by a gunsmith in the city of Rotterdam. But it also can be found in the city proofmark of the town of Haarlem(both in the Netherlands). So it could be, that the dagger mark is also a Dutch proofmark, but I cannot be sure about this. I could not find anything that links this marks to the Dutch inspectors, but maybe Jim or someone else here, can say more about it. Where to find more information http://en.wikipedia....richt_wapen.svg http://commons.wikim...f_Indonesia.svg http://en.wikipedia....t#Early_history Book: Hartmann's Dutch Gunmakers I hope this little bit of information helps, maybe the saved archives of the Johnson Company cn tell use more about the proof marks used on the M1941s. Adriaan
  10. Unfortunately, yes. Fortunately, I have moved on long ago and removed the Television from my house about 10 years ago. It just made me sick to see at what discraceful level "journalism" has long arrived. At least overhere every single station needs a minimum of one "skandal" a day they blow out of scale, demanding immediate action from politics etc etc etc. Tell you what: you miss nothing NOT looking at the screen. There are still some Newspapers(although not easy to find) were journalists deserve that name. They give me all the information I need. And: it's much more fun playing with my two kids(f.i. shooting...... ) than sitting for that TV together doing nothing but getting fatter..... Adriaan
  11. In the December Issue of the German Gun Magazine "Visier" you can see a brand new Dardick Pistol. I have added a scan of the picture of the Dardick in this magazine. Unfortunately you will not be able to get that one: it's part of the Firearms collection that belongs to the German "Kriminaltechnische Institut" in Wiesbaden. About 320 people work here, you can compare their job to your "CSI". They work Nationwide and deliver about 14000 reports a year to the police, courts etc. Their armscollection now helds about 8500 different sorts of firearms. They feel they have some more work to do, as worldwide an estimated 25000 diffent models of firearms exist....... Adriaan
  12. Mitch, diesel........ It's the latest Toyota Landcruiser with the 4-cylinder Turbo diesel. The gasoline powered 6-cylinder is extremely impopular overhere because of the high costs ot run it. Unfortunately overhere you only have very limited possibilities to personalize your licence plate. The first code(here WW) cannot be changed. You can only pick the letter and numbers. Fortunately this number was available..... Adriaan
  13. Minuteman, the standard Rifle and light machinegun(like the Lewis) ammunition for the Dutch Army at the beginning of WW2 was the 6,5x53R, not the 8 mm Mauser. The reason the 30-06 was used was quite simple: in 1940 the Germans were allready sitting cosely(more or less.....) in the Netherlands, and no arms and/or ammo left the country to the Dutch Indies. Next to that, the Dutch Indies authorities had gotten lots of Enfield M1917's including ammo from the US Government, which means that 30-06 ammo was readily available in the Dutch Indies. Also Johnson and the NPC were under great pressure to get the weapons on it's way to the Dutch Indies and surely did not want to spend time redesigning the M1941 to accept the rimmed(!) 6,5x53R. Concerning the stamps/marks on the Johnsons: I have been looking into the history of Dutch Proof and acceptance Marks for some time now, trying to find the origin of the 5 pointed star and the dagger that are on the Johnson Rifles. This because I was/am puzzled why these marks are on the rifles and why they did not use the proofstamps that are common on the Dutch Hembrug rifles(crown with a letter). The "why" I still do not know, but the origin could(I think) be traced back. I will put this information (together with some pictures/scan's I have to make) in this forum in the weekend when I have some more spare time. Adriaan
  14. If you can't carry your favorite Firearm around all the time(stupid German Gun Laws), I thought then at least I could drive it..... Adriaan
  15. Allthough you cannot really compare the Prices for Johnson's in the USA and in Europe: I paid 2000 USD for my battle horse(no way it will ever be restored, I like it as it is....). That Knob Creek shoot is something that would be worth a Holiday in the USA Adriaan